Emergency application
Police dog use of force
Mike Miller v. Dillon Rock
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on May 8, 2025: the lower court's ruling stays in effect while the appeal continues.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Officer Mike Miller, a police officer, asks the Supreme Court to pause trial proceedings while it considers his petition asking it to review the Ninth Circuit decision. Rock alleges Miller used excessive force by allowing a police dog to bite him too long. Miller says the Ninth Circuit upheld a ruling that he could be sued over how long the dog bit Rock.
What the Court did
Justice Kagan denied Miller’s request for a temporary pause, so Miller did not get emergency relief. The Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
This emergency ruling only addresses a temporary pause; it does not decide who wins Rock’s excessive-force case. Trial proceedings in the U.S. District Court for Arizona are not paused. A related Supreme Court review case is listed as No. 24-919.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 24A1078. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.